The Indian government has withdrawn a controversial draft encryption policy, with a minister stating that the document was not the final view of the government.

Under the policy, consumers would have been required to store the plain texts of encrypted information for 90 days from the date of a transaction and provide the text to law enforcement agencies when required under the laws of the country. The government would have also specified the algorithms and the length of the encryption keys used by different categories of people.

Following criticism that the measures would expose people to hacks and also compromise privacy, the government released late Monday a "proposed addendum" to its original document in which it clarified that the encryption policy did not apply to "mass use encryption products" such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter.

The addendum also exempted from the rules the use of SSL/TSL encryption in e-commerce, online banking and other password-based transactions.

The government had asked for public feedback on the policy before Oct. 16.

The growth of transactions in cyberspace has created a need for an encryption policy, Prasad said.